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icanhazmac

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Original poster
Apr 11, 2018
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tl;dr

X user Sean Safyre shared photos of one of the cell phones he claimed to have found on the side of the road.

He said the iPhone was still in airplane mode with half a battery and was opened to baggage claim for ASA1282, deeming the device "perfectly" intact after apparently surviving a 16,000-foot drop.

Will be interesting to see if this gets verified. My guess is that Apple and the case manufacturer go into marketing overdrive!!!
 
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SR Steve

macrumors regular
Jul 9, 2010
185
148
For those wanting the best protection for extreme conditions nothing can beat the drop test on these phones which were sucked out of the Alaska Airlines plane @ 16,000 feet and found in and around Portland. The one in the video is shown working and was said to have minimal damage. As this story unfolds we should be able to get more info on the details.

 
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Canyda

macrumors 65816
Sep 7, 2020
1,034
1,274
Color me skeptical that a phone that fell that high not only didn't sustain damage but was apparently still unlocked when found so that people could get photos of the Alaska Airlines email that was apparently loaded up when found. It seems unlikely.
 

Hooterville

macrumors 603
Sep 24, 2012
5,873
9,864
Color me skeptical that a phone that fell that high not only didn't sustain damage but was apparently still unlocked when found so that people could get photos of the Alaska Airlines email that was apparently loaded up when found. It seems unlikely.
That is mighty fishy o_O
 
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kp98077

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2010
4,298
2,760
Whistler, BC
I cannot even believe an iPhone survived a 16,000 drop from the Alaska airlines plane over Portland! This is crazy! I guess I wont complain anymore about all that stainless steel and titanium! :)
iphone plane.jpg
 
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daneoni

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2006
11,826
1,561
Well it was in a what looks to be a fairly sturdy case and has a screen protector (albeit an ugly one). Its odds of survival were notable at that point.
 
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Canyda

macrumors 65816
Sep 7, 2020
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That is mighty fishy o_O
I mean, look, it's POSSIBLE. I'm not outright saying this is fraud or made up. But as a former journalist, I'd be asking some hard questions about this.

Also, if Copilot is correct, the phone would have hit the ground travelling 135 mph. If that's legit, that's the best iPhone case I've ever seen.
 
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BuddyTronic

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,881
1,484

tl;dr

X user Sean Safyre shared photos of one of the cell phones he claimed to have found on the side of the road.

He said the iPhone was still in airplane mode with half a battery and was opened to baggage claim for ASA1282, deeming the device "perfectly" intact after apparently surviving a 16,000-foot drop.

Will be interesting to see if this gets verified. My guess is that Apple and the case manufacturer go into marketing overdrive!!!

Yah. Pretty cool!

I’m guessing it hits terminal velocity.

“Airplane mode” joke was funny too
 
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nebo1ss

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,909
1,709

tl;dr

X user Sean Safyre shared photos of one of the cell phones he claimed to have found on the side of the road.

He said the iPhone was still in airplane mode with half a battery and was opened to baggage claim for ASA1282, deeming the device "perfectly" intact after apparently surviving a 16,000-foot drop.

Will be interesting to see if this gets verified. My guess is that Apple and the case manufacturer go into marketing overdrive!!!
I am a skeptic on this. Why would the phone be unlocked enabling the finder to get access.
 

erikkfi

macrumors 68000
May 19, 2017
1,726
8,097
What am I supposed to take away from this? That iPhones can be expected to survive a drop from 16,000 feet? I doubt any manufacturer would ever back that claim, nor does this event have any meaning for the average user.

More disinformation shared on "X."
 
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dennis264

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2010
11
22
Terminal velocity wouldn't be, RELATIVELY, that much. Also we've had a lot of rain, it probably landed in soft dirt, or a bush. The area it was lost in is particularly wet and woody.
I often change certain settings on my phone for travel, longer unlock times etc.
If it was in airplane mode, with the display alsleep and no unlock, this doesn't surprise me.
 

JustAnExpat

macrumors 65816
Nov 27, 2019
1,009
1,012
I'm not believing this at all. Where's the phone owner at? Did they take the phone to the airline company lost and found? Too many questions.
 

WarmWinterHat

macrumors 68030
Feb 26, 2015
2,891
8,671
What am I supposed to take away from this? That iPhones can be expected to survive a drop from 16,000 feet? I doubt any manufacturer would ever back that claim, nor does this event have any meaning for the average user.

More disinformation shared on "X."

Yea, this is just a bit of trivia and an interesting news story..or just a fabrication. It doesn't mean anything and won't be used for marketing.
 

kp98077

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2010
4,298
2,760
Whistler, BC
This is a bit like watching the news on the actual incident or what Alaska airlines says in comparison to the NTSB (where they have many more details, such as the cockpit door opened, the pilots' headsets blew off/way, and it affected everything through row 1, bathroom door got jammed, mask didnt deploy etc.
 

BB1970

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2009
445
1,198
I don’t think it’s so impossible. Objects reach a terminal velocity and if it fell in the wild, most likely in soft brush etc. The height isn’t the issue, it’s the contact point (concrete, solid rock etc).
 
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mw360

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2010
2,067
2,476
It has happened before. This phone cracked, but it landed on a building roof.


Clearly the terminal velocity of a phone is much lower than we’d expect. A falling penny hits terminal velocity after just 15 metres, and it’s a mere 25mph…

 
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